Cliffs Natural Resources is expected to sink $3.3 billion into developing the resource-rich Ring of Fire, the Ontario government announced Monday.

An American company is expected to spend $3.3 billion developing the resource-rich Ring of Fire, the Ontario government announced Wednesday.

Cliffs Natural Resources, an international mining company based in Cleveland, will use the money to haul and process chromite — the key ingredient used to make stainless steel — out of the Hudson Bay Lowlands.

The Ring of Fire, located 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, is said to contain one of the world’s largest chromite deposits. Global mining companies have staked nearly 9,000 claims in the ring.

Both the federal and provincial government wants to hasten development of the area to bring much needed jobs to the struggling north. However, environmentalists and First Nations fear environmental assessments will be hastened or bypassed in order to keep Cliffs in Ontario.

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan said the Ontario government has reached a term sheet or initial agreement with Cliffs regarding the $3.3 billion deal.

“We will be investing in parts of that as well, part of that will include a road,” Duncan told reporters. “It is significant …It is the first step to finalizing a deal.”

The ring is a 5,000-square-kilometre area of pristine wilderness that is also one of the world’s last untouched ecosystems.

Ontario has been locked in a battle with Quebec to keep Cliffs’ smelter plant located here in the province. High hydro rates in Ontario have been a major stumbling block.

However, Cliffs has decided to build a $1.85-billion chromite processing facility in Capreol, near Sudbury, said Northern Development Minister Rick Bartolucci.

“This is very, very important not only for Sudbury but for the entire province,” he said in a live-stream web announcement from Sudbury.

Hydro rates, processing and several other items are still being discussed with Cliffs, said Bartolucci. “Once an agreement has been reached the details of that agreement will be made known,” he said.

Opposition critics were quick to point out the government’s announcement left them with more questions than answers.

“(Cliffs) have sort of picked Sudbury but with a lot of qualifications,” said Progressive Conservative MPP Norm Miller said.

He wondered why Ottawa and First Nations weren’t with Bartolucci in Sudbury for the press conference.

“If First Nations aren’t part of it, it won’t be happening. You could also ask, why was the federal government wasn’t part of it, there are federal and provincial environmental reviews. There are still a lot of challenges going forward … despite it sounding like ground was being broken today,” Miller said.

The $3.3-billion investment encompasses the mine, the smelter and a transportation corridor — roads and bridges — to ship the ore south for processing in Capreol.

The smelter is expected to bring 900 new jobs to the Sudbury area — about 450 construction jobs and another 450 when the plant is in operation, Bartolucci said. The smelter will process chromite into ferrochrome to meet demand across North America and Asia.

The mine in the Far North will create nearly 700 direct jobs, he added.

However, environmentalists and aboriginal groups are already condemning the plan to construct a transportation corridor through precious wilderness.

Aroland First Nation warned this could be “the canary in the coal mine” concerning Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s “rollback of environmental regulation.”

CPAWS Wildlands League, a leading provincial conservation group, accuses the government of striking a “back-room deal” that sacrifices ecosystems by deciding on a 350-kilometre road based on the needs of single mining company.

The all-weather road is estimated to cost nearly $600 million and will run along what Cliffs has called a north-south route that cuts through the Albany River area, said Janet Sumner, executive director of CPAWS Wildlands League.

“The most important decision is the location of infrastructure. Where, how much and what? These are the questions we needed Ontario to ask,” said Sumner.

She decried what she called a lack of a proper environmental assessment and comprehensive review of what development will do to the area.

“We expected more from this government …this government picked a winner based on a business deal,” said Sumner.

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